The Merthur Ages
by prince pratdragon
Summary: AU! Gwen leaves Arthur for Lancelot. Arthur gets upset, and seeing that Merlin might be the only one who can comfort him, she decides that Merlin and Arthur should get together. So Gwen, along with Morgana, sets her plan into action: Make Merthur work. Set in S2. Extreme Gwen x Lancelot cheesiness and awkward Merthur. CRACK.


Summary: AU! Gwen leaves Arthur for Lancelot. Arthur gets upset, and seeing that Merlin might be the only one who can comfort him, she decides that Merlin and Arthur should get together. So Gwen sets her plan into action: Make Merthur work. Set in S2. Extreme Gwen x Lancelot cheesiness and awkward Merthur.

_Prologue_

Gwen looked up into the eyes of her beloved, feeling only the smallest of regrets for choosing her brave Lancelot over Prince Arthur. When she gazed into those warm brown orbs, she felt only happiness in her heart. He had saved her from a terrible death. He had made her world complete. Without Lancelot's undying loyalty to her, she would have died alone and heartbroken, unable to understand why no one had come to save her.

Lancelot whispered into her ear, "I am going to become a knight in Camelot so I may never need to leave your side, Guinevere." His determination shone in his eyes, and Gwen had no doubt the warrior was going to become the strongest knight of all, stronger than even Prince Arthur. "The only thing is…"

"You chose me over Arthur, didn't you?" he asked, worry clear in his voice. Gwen shrugged, feeling the slightest twist of guilt in her stomach. She had to go with just one of them eventually, and she hoped that Arthur would understand.

"I did what I had to," she whispered. "Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to be with the one I truly love."

"But Arthur…" Lancelot glanced over to the Prince, feeling a similar twist of guilt in his heart. "He will suffer."

The blond warrior was sitting by the fire, idly scratching at the dirt with the tip of his blade. He seemed either at a loss for words or was simply too upset to say them. Merlin shifted uncomfortably beside him, not knowing how to comfort the prince. The steady crackling and sparking of the small fire was the only thing that interrupted the thick silence between the two.

"Wait a moment…" Gwen said slowly. She glanced over at the pair through the flaps of the hastily constructed tent. "I have an idea."

Lancelot looked puzzled. "What would that be, my lady?"

"Oh, nothing." She shook her head lightly. Outside she heard muffled voices and quickly leaned out of the tent to watch them.

"Are… are you all right?" Merlin asked hesitantly. Arthur didn't react, as though he hadn't heard the question. He subtly scooted closer to his friend and asked it again, in a lower voice. "Are you all right?"

Arthur didn't say anything outside of a mumbled reply of "obviously…" which made Merlin blow out a puff of air in exasperation.

"No, you're not okay and a three-year-old child could see it."

"Then why'd you ask?" Arthur snapped and 'accidentally' let his sword slip on the ground, carving a deep groove in the dirt and coming to rest centimeters from Merlin's foot. He pulled his foot away from the sword hurriedly and put his hands up.

"All right, all right, I get it." He looked down at the slightly rotted log they were sitting on and flicked a piece of bark into the fire. "You don't want to talk to me right now."

"Yes, for the first time in your miserable life, Merlin, you have _finally_ said something true." Merlin bit his lip and fought the urge to smile. Arthur had to be at least partly all right if he were talking to his manservant like that.

"Come on…" he said, more of a whine than an actual complaint.

Arthur glanced at him, eyes hooded. He didn't provide another comment, so Merlin spoke up again, if just to rid the air of the uncomfortable silence.

"Okay, I'm stupid. I know that."

There was another pause.

"Hopefully, or your entire life would be a lie," Arthur finally said.

Merlin had to smile that time. "That's coming from the biggest prat _I _know."

"Don't speak to your future king that way," he said seriously, but the expression in his eyes said otherwise.

And then they were both laughing, quietly but not without mirth, and for the first time since Gwen had chosen Lancelot over him, Arthur was smiling.

"Definitely," she whispered. "Definitely him."

"What was that, my lady?" Lancelot asked from deeper inside the tent.

Gwen turned quickly. "Nothing, it's fine. And don't worry about Arthur, I'll see to it that he'll be okay by the end of this week."

.

.

The group had finally reached Camelot after another long day of travel. Merlin had insisted that they go the long way, which resulted in a quickly resolved argument with Arthur. They definitely were not going through the wilddeorren tunnels again. Gwen agreed, only because she thought it rather disconcerting that giant baby rats could possibly eat her for dinner if they went that certain direction.

So they had travelled the long way and had made it to Camelot a day later than if they had traversed the tunnels, but they were welcomed with open arms nonetheless.

Gwen looked up at Lancelot and gave him a quick nod, going over to Arthur and explaining to him about Lancelot's knighting. "I know he hasn't had any official training… but considering that he saved my life and quite possibly yours, could you make an exception?"

Arthur opened his mouth, but closed it again with another look at Lancelot's slightly confused face. "A-all right…" he said dismissively. "I'll speak to Uther about it."

The two shared relieved grins; now Gwen and Lancelot could see each other indefinitely within Camelot.

"Thank you," she breathed and hugged Lancelot again. Later, she headed up to her room, smiling slightly. Aside from the lingering guilt after leaving Arthur, she felt more happy than she had in ages. There was one thing she had to do, however…

She dug around and found a piece of parchment, some ink, and a broken quill.

Across the top of the parchment, she scribbled:

_**Merlin and Arthur?**_

She tapped the broken edge of the quill on the desk, thinking.

_**Organize a picnic by the lake with just the two of them?**_

A picnic. She'd have no problem setting it up, but finding a day that both Merlin and Arthur would agree to was a bit of a challenge. And how would she get them to go? She sighed and rested her chin on her hand. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Standing up and rolling up the parchment, she declared to herself, "It might be hard, but it's _definitely_ going to happen."

…

…

_Chapter 1- Lake of Love?_

Morgana crossed her arms and said, "And you believe this is going to cheer him up?"

Gwen nodded firmly. "Merlin is the only person who I've seen make him smile that easily before. I'm almost completely sure now that they're really meant for one another."

"Then I'll do it, I suppose. I'll persuade Uther to let Arthur take a day off and spend it on a picnic."

"That would be wonderful," said Gwen with enthusiasm. "I'll get the food ready, then!"

She packed sandwiches, fruit, salad, and chicken into a basket covered with a thin cloth. When she finished, Morgana walked back into the room with a relieved smile. Gwen waited eagerly for her announcement.

"Uther agreed," she said. "He's sent Arthur to his room to change and get ready."

"Great," she whispered, and smiled in anticipation.

.

.

Merlin watched Arthur lay back on the bed and breathe out a long sigh.

"What does he take me for, a delicate _flower_? A glass statue? A pampered _kitten_? A… a…"

"Prince that will one day rule Camelot?" Merlin supplied. Arthur let out another frustrated sigh.

"I'm in perfect health, what does he _mean_ I need a break? It's not like I just came back from a battle, or an invasion, or a rescue party, or an attack, or a duel, or a—"

"All right, don't get overboard with the possibilities…" Merlin interrupted. "Anyway, it's a picnic! It's not like it's polishing armor or mucking out the stables. I'd go."

Arthur buried his face into his pillow and moaned, "Maybe I don't want to go on a bloody picnic." He managed to say the word 'picnic' in a way that made it sound like some new method of torture, which Merlin did not understand. A picnic sounded like a needed break.

"Fine, okay…" Merlin said with resignation. "Maybe it'll at least cheer you up…"

"Guinevere's going, right? And Morgana…?" Arthur asked suddenly, his words a little muffled by his pillow.

"They're both going, yes."

There was a pause.

"I'll go to the stupid picnic."

"Well, that was easy," said Merlin, surprised.

"Mmm." Arthur merely let out another moan.

.

.

"Not a bad view, isn't it?" Morgana said, looking at the three other people who were sitting down on the grass. They were just far away enough from the lake that the ground was fairly dry, but close enough to be able to see the sparkling reflections in the water cast by the overhanging trees. She focused on Arthur, who seemed to be the one enjoying the picnic the least.

"It's pretty," said Merlin, looking out at the water. Arthur didn't answer and just sat there with a sullen expression, but the sun scattering light over the gently cascading waves seemed to have caught his eye.

"Looks like chainmail," Arthur finally said softly.

She really had to return one day, Morgana thought. If this weren't just for Merlin and Arthur to get closer, she'd be really enjoying the picnic. But that wasn't the biggest thing that was supposed to happen. She was just here to prod things along in the right direction.

Glancing at Gwen, she mouthed the word "leave?" and pointed at the sun, which had just begun to sink down into the lake.

With a look at Arthur and Merlin, Guinevere nodded.

"Oh!" she exclaimed in fake surprise. "I just remembered! Morgana, we can't stay, we have to hurry back."

Morgana suddenly nodded. "Oh yes! I'm very sorry, but we can't stay. We need to work on the décor for the… uh… party we're going to have soon. S-so…"

"We really must be going," Gwen said hastily and stood. With several backward glances, they hurried away.

Arthur just watched the two hurry away with a 'really?' look on his face while Merlin just waved goodbye slightly confusedly.

"Looks like we're alone then," Merlin said. Arthur shrugged and continued eating his sandwich.

The two sat in an awkward silence.

In the forest, Morgana and Gwen were concealing themselves behind a couple of low-growing shrubs and watching.

"Plan B," Gwen whispered, and Morgana nodded. She withdrew a pebble from her pocket and flicked it towards the lake. It fell into the water with a small splash.

It wasn't very loud, but it was enough to make Merlin and Arthur look up.

"What was that?" they heard Merlin say.

"Probably nothing," Arthur replied with a sigh. "I suspect that water's probably tainted."

"No, it's obviously not. It's clear."

"Tainted."

"It's perfectly fine, see, I'll drink it." Merlin walked to the lake, careful not to slip on the rocks, and kneeled down by the water. He reached forward and dipped his hands in the cool liquid, bringing some up to his mouth. It smelled like plants and fish and tasted about the same.

"Look, Merlin, now you just made it worse," Arthur called.

"W-worse?!" Merlin sputtered and threw the rest of the water cupped in his hands at Arthur's face. "I'll say it's even worse now."

Arthur wiped his face with a scowl. "Could you be any more of an idiot?"

"Well, I'll try."

Arthur abruptly stood, taking the bucket they had used to bring in food, and dipped it in the lake. He brought it up and back, swaying it dangerously as water sloshed off the sides. Merlin backed up a little, seeing Arthur's slightly evil face and the way he was holding the bucket—"N-no, don't, Arthur, no no, no—"

The remaining water from the bucket drenched Merlin from head to waist. He shook his head and wiped his eyes, gasping. The water was cold and it had started gusting; he shivered and glared at Arthur again. "Really?" he demanded and Arthur snickered. Merlin kicked a spray of lake water in his general direction and he easily dodged it, his chuckles turning into full-blown laughs.

"Never could catch me, could ya?"

His laughter was quickly interrupted by Merlin walking up to him and pushing him backwards into the water. Arthur landed in the lake with a splash that soaked Merlin's pant legs, and enticed a bit of cursing with several threats on Merlin's well-being.

"All right, that's it!" Arthur pulled on Merlin's pant leg until he stumbled and fell into the lake beside him with a yelp.

He came up a moment later, spitting out water and aggressively wiping his eyes. "Ahh, I think I drank some of the water by accident…"

Arthur stood and brushed water out of his hair. "Didn't you say the water wasn't tainted?"

"If it wasn't before, now it's royally tainted." Merlin faked gagging noises while Arthur splashed more water into his face.

In the bushes, Gwen and Morgana snuck looks at each other. They were too far away to hear most of what they were saying, but so far, so good.

…

…

The chair wobbled on its legs while Merlin sat atop it. He sniffled and heard Arthur do the same beside him. Gaius looked at the pair expectantly.

"Erm, we need cold medicine," Arthur said finally, rubbing at his nose. Merlin nodded and shot Gaius a quick look.

"All right then,' he said, still looking at them strangely. He dug around in the cabinets for a second before coming up with two small bottles. "These contain echinacea extract, which may help your cold."

He handed the bottles to them and they stood. Merlin turned and hurried out the door first, but stopped when Gaius called his name. "By the way…"

"What caused you two to manage to catch cold at the exact same time? Are you doing something I am not aware of? Anything…" He gave Merlin a questioning stare. "Illegal?"

Merlin shifted uncomfortably. "N-nothing, Gaius, it's just… we were out at the lake and…"

"We were… hunting." Arthur nudged him in the ribs. "Our quarry wandered too near the water and we, er… somehow got soaked in it."

"Yes, yes, that's it. Hunting. And since it was cold and this prat over here—I mean, I mean... it was cold and we were wet. That's all." Merlin nodded several times and made a second attempt to leave, pulling Arthur out with him. This time Gaius let them go, shaking his head.

"Youth these days," he lamented and opened an ancient book, dusting off its onion-skin pages.

.

.

"Ahh!" Gwen squealed, looking at Morgana. "It worked! I think!"

"Merthur is such a cute pairing... It's the on pairing that should exist, besides you and Lancelot," Morgana said dreamily. "In fact , it's like..."

"A one..." Gwen breathed.

"True..."

"Pairing..."

"That's what it should be called, my lady!" Gwen exclaimed.

"Yes, that has a good ring to it..." Morgana thought out loud. "My one true pairing... my OTP, is Merthur. Not bad." She turned and gave Gwen a smirk, which she returned greedily.

Operation Make OTP Merthur happen was now officially underway.

...

...

**A/N**: First fanfic and it's slightly crack xD

Reviews are appreciated!


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